KU Predictions: Rhode Island Rams

The 2016 Kansas Jayhawks Football season is upon us, and regardless of our flashbacks to last year, that means we still have a football team that has to play and will hopefully improve. After much cajoling and promising of treats, I was able to convince these brave writers to cast aside their PTSD and talk about what to expect from our football team in the first game of the season this year. Hopefully the healing can begin on Saturday.

KU Grad 08: Despite how bad RI was last year and our talent advantage, we still have to work on a lot of things. Trying to establish a short, rhythm-based passing game will take time, and may lead to some long, time-consuming drives that don’t produce points. I don’t think RI will threaten to score much, and KU likely won’t be extremely worried, but I also don’t think we will quite cover the spread. A few big plays give us some space, and we all breathe a sigh of relief having actually won a freaking game. Kansas 34, Rhode Island 13.

Winmore: This is KU’s best chance for the first win of the Beaty era so the Jayhawks will go all out in their effort to pound the Rams. Which will include exposing a large chunk of the playbook to every other team still on the schedule. However, no one will care, and the students will be tempted to rush the field after the ‘Hawks win their first game since November 8, 2014. Kansas 45, Rhode Island 10.

mikeville: Despite how bad RI was last year and our talent advantage, we still have to work on a lot of things. Trying to establish a short, rhythm-based passing game should be easy against this opponent, and we should score quickly several times, avoiding long, time-consuming drives that don’t produce points. I don’t think RI will threaten to score much, and KU likely won’t be extremely worried, so obviously I think we will cover the spread. Several big plays give us some space, the guys have fun out there and score a bunch of points, and we all breathe a sigh of relief having actually won a freaking game. Kansas 55, Rhode Island 20.

Fizzle: The last time KU won a game, Dumb and Dumber To was at the top of the box office and Megan Trainor’s "All About That Bass" was at the top of the charts. I think we all had an ominous feeling after that game and for good reason. However on saturday, we are going to win. Hopefully win big. So celebrate Kansas fans. You’ve earned this. Kansas 52, Rhode Island 19

KUChief: The whole "Let’s not announce our QB because we don’t want to give Rhode Island any information (Read: Yes, we are worrying about the defensive scheming of Rhode Island)" thing is bumming me out a bit… That said, Beaty’s masterful intelligence work means we squeak out a win and the people rejoice. Kansas 42, Upper Respiratory Infection 14.

David: Given that a Jayhawk team full of freshmen (that went on to go 0-12) nearly beat one of the best teams in FCS last year, I don't see any way this team loses to one of the worst. I'd love to pick a huge margin of victory, but with all the staff changes and the transition to Beaty’s tweaked offense, I think we'll see some frustrating mistakes that prevent this from beginning a real blowout. Kansas 35, Rhode Island 10

dnoll5: Rhode Island are the Rams and teams of that name always wear cool helmets with ram horns looping around them. And that is the extent of my knowledge of this football team. For KU, I want to see the Air Raid offense in perfect working order and ring these dudes up on the scoreboard like they were Nebraska or something, but alas, there are kinks to be worked out and the scoreboard won’t explode due to overuse. Dang. But don’t worry, KU should still win handily. Kansas 45, Rhode Island 17.

misterbrain: I’m not really sure what to think about this game, given that Beaty hasn’t really let us in on his plans. My guess would be that Ryan Willis is the starter and the Jayhawks go up big at half after a few miscues in the first quarter. They settle in and Montell Cozart gets some playing time in the 4th quarter. Kansas has no business even letting this game end close, and they should be able to demolish the Rams. Kansas 63, Rhode Island 20.